This invention relates to an ornament to be attached to a vehicle body such as automobile body to indicate a mark or the like with an ornamental effect, the ornament being of the type having an illuminating lamp therein.
In automobiles and some other vehicles it is customary to ornament the vehicle body with a medal-like or panel-like ornament which indicates a mark such as the manufacturer's mark or the trademark of the vehicle. Vehicle ornaments of this category include self-illuminating ornaments that have come into fashion recently.
A conventional automobile ornament of the self-illuminating type is principally made up of a base to be attached to an outer part of the car body, an illuminating lamp supported by the base, a transparent cover attached to the base to entirely cover the lamp and a metal piece that is shaped into a desired mark and attached to the outer surface of the transparent cover. However, this ornament needs to include additional parts that are disposed between the lamp and the transparent cover to render the lamp invisible from the outside in the daytime and to illuminate only limited areas of the transparent cover in the nighttime such that the illumination relieves the mark against a dark background given by the remaining areas of the cover. The inclusion of such additional parts means a considerable increase in the total number of parts of the ornament and makes the assembling of the ornament troublesome and time-consuming. Furthermore, the existence of these additional parts between the lamp and the cover causes an unnecessary increase in the thickness of the mark-indicating portion of the ornament, which is unfavorable for the aesthetic appearance of the ornament.